EMPLOYERS FIRST™
PRE-BUDGET SUBMISSION 2007-08
Employers First™ has submitted a range of recommendations to the NSW Government in the lead-up to the next Budget. The submission urges vital policy adjustments in the areas of government intervention, economic growth, employment levels, small business regulation, occupational health and safety and employment law.
A reading of the submission will reveal the empirical basis for the recommendations, including, among other statistics:
- Comparative gross domestic product figures
- Final demand chain volume measures
- State economic performance indicators
- Comparative state unemployment figures
- Comparative state housing prices
- Small business surveys
The principal arguments of the submission are premised on the following trends in NSW:
- Poor economic performance relative to other States
- Escalating business costs
- Poor growth of employment
- The relative economic decline of regional areas
- Diminishing expectations of small business
- Barriers to business opportunity through excessive regulation
- The prohibitive effects of the OHS laws on business
- Disincentives to business through the current employment laws.
The submission makes the following recommendations to the NSW Treasurer:
1. That the 2007-2008 budget not increase current tax rates or other mechanisms, definitions, levies or imposts that would increase the tax liability of business.
2. Notwithstanding recommendation 1, that the 2007-2008 budget provide for the lowering of NSW employer payroll tax liabilities to the best practice of the other States so far as threshold, tax rate and definitional breadth are concerned.
3. That the State Government implement the proposals in our submission to the OHS Act 2000 Review.
4. That the State Government insert in the appropriate Workers Compensation legislations, regulations and premium calculation rules, the definition of contractor recommended by Employers First™ to the Macken Committee in lieu of the definition of worker so as to provide certainty and transparency in the premium calculation rules and audits and a mechanism for deciding in advance whether or not a particular person is a contractor or a worker.
5. That the NSW Government review the impact that its employment laws have on the willingness of business to employ on the basis they are too costly, uncertain and restrictive and implement in place of current legislation, laws and regulations that are reasonable, balanced and practical.
Contact the Employers Hotline™ on (02) 9264 2000 if you need to know more.